5 Tips on How to Fight Jet Lag
Even when you fly on the world’s best airlines, (like my personal favorite pictured above- Singapore Airlines), you can still be susceptible to the woes of jet lag. From changing time zones to the general stress of travel to dehydrating your body in bacteria-infested, stale air, we’re up against a lot of factors when it comes to staying healthy and energetic when flying the not-so-friendly skies.
As someone who has traveled extensively throughout life, I’ve gathered my own set of tried and true tips on how to fight jet lag. They’re simple, logical and will help make traveling as enjoyable as it should be.
1. Stay amply hydrated. This is the most important travel tip of all. Between running around to keep up a crazy schedule to not having the time to eat and drink properly, getting dehydrated is the fastest way to get sick and exhausted while traveling. HOW you stay hydrated is also important. No matter whether you’re traveling to or from a warm destination, airline cabins are almost always freezing so drinking cold water (though better than not drinking enough water at all) is not as good for you as loading up on room temperature or best yet- warm water. Warm water will soothe your throat and warm you up while cold water can induce chills and bloating.
2. Take Probiotics to stay regular during traveling. It’s a subject most of us don’t like thinking or talking about but it’s incredibly vital to staying healthy, especially while you’re on the road. When you barely have a chance to sit down to a proper, nutritious meal while traveling, there’s no doubt staying regular flies out the window. You can help your digestive track by taking probiotics while you travel. There are so many toxins floating about with sick people and all kinds of bacteria in-flight. Do yourself a favor and at least get rid of toxins from your body that you normally would be doing at home.
3. Pack honey sticks. If you’ve never seen honey sticks, they’re like little straws filled with a couple of tablespoons of honey. You bite off an end and squeeze the honey into your mouth. Honey is a strong natural anti-bacterial and is soothing to your throat, not to mention great for your skin. These honey sticks are super convenient as you can toss them out as soon as your done with one. Pictured below- honey stick pack from Crate and Barrel.
4. Eat fresh fruits. Loading up on antioxidants during traveling is essential, especially if you’re eating a lot of junk along the way. Every airport I’ve been to around the world (with exception of tiny, off the beaten path airports) has some kind of kiosk that sells apples, oranges and bananas. Pick one, pick them all. Just eat fresh fruit and plenty of it to keep up your energy and bacteria-fighting senses at peak levels. Make sure to wash those fruits whose skin you eat with clean, bottled water.
5. Bring your own snacks. It really doesn’t take much time or effort to pack healthy snacks to bring on your flight. Whether you want to pack a zip-lock bag of already washed fresh strawberries or roasted almonds (here’s my favorite recipe for Garlic Roasted Almonds), packing a little stash of healthy finger snacks will immensely help you fight off exhaustion from lack of nutritious food while traveling.